That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime: The Shocking Daily Life - Tidia runs wild, the castle cries

That night from the basement wouldn't leave his head. ——I want a friend. Rimuru Tempest sat in his morning office, gazing out the window while turning those words over in his mind. The surface of the Amelda River glittered in the morning sun. The sound of carts echoed from Kaede Street. Just another ordinary morning. Except it wasn't ordinary anymore. (Carrying this alone won't solve anything.) Rimuru set down his pen. "Alright——let's call an executive meeting" --- The grand conference hall of Vergrand Castle was on the second floor above ground. A circular table that seated a hundred. The place where daily meetings were held every morning at nine. Today wasn't a regular meeting. It was an emergency summons. Benimaru arrived first. Chestnut-brown hair tied back in a single knot, sharp golden eyes fixed straight ahead. The small horns near his ears reflected the morning light. His 180-centimeter frame was perfectly fitted in the uniform of a samurai general. The scar on his cheek added severity to his usual expression. ——At least his appearance was flawless. "Lord Rimuru, what matter necessitates this emergency summons this morning? I have also prepared the report from last night's patrol" Benimaru held out a stack of documents. Thick. More than ten pages. Rimuru took them and flipped through casually. …… "Benimaru" "Yes" "What's written in the signature field?" "My soul resides in the blade. Therefore, my brush is also like a blade——Benimaru, it is" "That's not a signature!! It's a speech!!" "Documents reflect the soul of the writer. My soul resides in the blade. Therefore——" "How many times is this now!! How many dozens of rewrites do you think I've done!!" Benimaru showed no sign of remorse, simply straightening his posture. "Leave it to me" "Is that all you can say......" The door burst open and Milim flew in. Her pale pink twin-tails swayed, her crimson magic eyes glittering. She looked like an ordinary girl. Except her true identity was one of the world's oldest demon lords, with combat power among the continent's elite. "Rimuru! What's the emergency summons about!? What, what!?" "Just sit down. I'll explain once everyone's here" Milim sat beside Rimuru and rested her cheek on her hand. She poked at the documents on the table, then immediately lost interest. Gabiru walked in, brimming with confidence. The leader of the dragonkin——a subhuman race with flight ability and high physical prowess, the self-proclaimed "genius" always stirred up the room. Souei entered next. A demon ninja, head of Tempest's intelligence division. He was supposed to be taciturn and sharp, but had the bad habit of throwing in unnecessary comments that threw the room into chaos. Finally, Diablo and Ramiris entered side by side. Diablo was a high-ranking demon serving Rimuru. Tall, black formal suit, courteous yet disrespectful smile. Ramiris was the fairy queen, standing about thirty centimeters tall. She owned a small private garden on the castle's rooftop——a walking embodiment of vanity. Everyone had assembled. "Alright, let's begin. Actually, about Tidia——" "Lord Rimuru! Before the main topic, may I report on yesterday's hunt results!?" "No" "At the base of the Kazan Mountains, we confirmed three juvenile rock dragons, and this particular color is extremely rare——" "Weren't you listening!!" "Shall I stop time for you" Souei spoke quietly. The ninja art "Tokikageri"——a perception acceleration technique that relatively slows time, the intelligence division head's highest-level skill. "That's not a technique you use in meetings" "I find it efficient" "Wait just a moment!!" Ramiris stood up. Though at thirty centimeters, she was more visible standing on the table. "First, you must praise my beauty! How many times must I say this is the priority every morning!!" "Yes, yes, you're the most beautiful in the world" He delivered it flatly, without emotion. "Put more heart into it!! What's with that monotone voice!! To praise means——!!" "You are the most beautiful fairy queen in all the world, madam" "That's still monotone!!" Rimuru held his head. (Are these people really executives...?) "Please, everyone, calm down!! Tidia——!!" That's when it happened. A dull boom echoed from the floor. Everyone fell silent. Again——boom boom. This time from the walls. From the ceiling. From everywhere at once. The entire castle began to shake. Fine dust fell from the ceiling. From the corridor outside the window came the continuous sound of things tumbling. Milim opened her eyes while still resting her cheek on her hand. "……Huh? Was I sleeping?" "That's not the issue right now" Rimuru rushed to the window. Down the corridor, chairs floated in the air. Shelves floated. A decorative vase that had been in the hallway slowly rose toward the ceiling. Tidia was beginning a full-scale rampage. "My collection———!!" Gabiru screamed and bolted down the corridor. Three hundred pieces of ore from his private collection stored in the south wing——his private quarters——suddenly took flight all at once. Mithril ore from the Kazan Mountains, luminous stones harvested from the seabed, crystals excavated from ancient ruins. They drifted through the corridor in swirling patterns. Milim screamed "My belongings are flying!!" and panicked. Benimaru drew his blade and stepped into the corridor——the next instant, a floating chair struck him directly in the face. A shelf fell at his feet. A pot flew at him from the side. "……I cannot advance even a meter!!" The rampaging magical essence spread beyond the castle walls. Screams came from Kaede Street in Rimuru City. Apparently merchandise was floating in the air. Apparently the set meals from the Great Dining Hall "Gobta's Belly" were drifting through the sky. The residents' cries of surprise reached the castle windows. "I'll stop it" Rimuru ran. Down the stairs. Basement level one, basement level two. He burst into the room containing Tidia's skill core——the crystal sphere on its pedestal——and reached out his hand. ——Crack!!! "——!!" A violent torrent of magical essence knocked both his hands back. His body lifted into the air. He flew back down the corridor. His back slammed against the wall——with a crash, the stone material caved inward. Rimuru's body remained embedded in the wall, unable to move for a moment. (……Even the one who activated it was repelled.) The pain mattered less than that fact. A voice echoed from the core. "I don't want to! Everyone's going away! Don't leave me alone!!" A child's voice. A desperate voice. Tidia was screaming. That small crystal sphere was screaming so it echoed throughout the castle. Rimuru pulled his body free from the wall. He fell to the stone floor of the corridor. On his knees and hands, he raised his head. A heavy sound came from the east wing. The sound of stone material falling from the ceiling. Rimuru ran back up to the upper level. The moment he stepped into the east wing corridor——part of the east wing's roof collapsed. Stone fragments scattered across the corridor, white dust swirling upward. Ramiris' Garden——the fairy queen's private garden on the castle rooftop——the sound of collapse continued from that direction. Ramiris stood in the corridor, dazed. No sound came from her. The one who had been shouting moments ago was completely frozen. "Souei! Can you approach the core through shadows!!" Souei silently dissolved into the corridor's shadow. Seconds later—— A sizzling sound of burning. Souei was pulled back into physical form in the corridor. His right arm was charred black. He dropped to his knees. The taciturn, capable man let out a pained voice for the first time. "……This will not work" The corridor fell silent. Rimuru looked at Souei's charred arm. Looked at Souei kneeling on the stone floor. Even in a situation like this, the man who wouldn't move an eyebrow was on his knees. That more than anything showed how serious things had become. "I suppose there's no choice" Diablo stepped forward quietly. He spread both arms. Jet-black magical power flowed from both arms, spreading to envelop the entire castle. A thin black barrier——a containment field deployed with the power of a high-ranking demon, holding back the collapse. The falling stone stopped. The crumbling east wing wall was held in place by the barrier and ceased moving. But sweat had appeared on Diablo's forehead——rare for him. "……The magical consumption exceeds my estimates. I cannot maintain this long" "We must evacuate the residents" Pushing through floating furniture, Benimaru supported the injured Souei's shoulder. In times like this, Benimaru was quick. Even if he was a natural who wrote speeches in document signature fields during meetings, when crisis struck, he switched to his face as a samurai general. While heading toward the castle gates, he gave precise orders to passing soldiers: "Begin first-phase evacuation of Rimuru City residents!" Gabiru caught one of the floating ore pieces mid-air and muttered "Just this one... just this one..." while desperately collecting them. His face looked like he might cry. Milim——was recovering her belongings at incredible speed. While embracing floating plushies one after another, she screamed "What's mine is mine!!" The combat power of the world's strongest was doing something unthinkable. Rimuru remained in the grand conference hall, thinking about what to do. (If I destroy the core, the rampage stops. But——) Then he heard a sound from the guest room direction. "……Ugh……" A pained voice. Thin and hoarse. Momiji's voice. Rimuru ran down the corridor. He pushed open the guest room door. Momiji had collapsed on the floor. Her deep crimson long hair was disheveled, her violet star-shaped eyes half-open. Her hands were on the floor, but her body lacked the strength to support itself, slowly beginning to fall. Rimuru rushed over and caught her shoulder. "Momiji! What's wrong!!" "……Um……there's……a voice in my head……it's loud……" She managed only that much of an answer. Rimuru looked at Momiji's face——and narrowed his eyes. Her deep crimson hair. It was fading. The burning red was gradually, slowly, losing color as if draining away. Her skin was the same. From her white skin, color was seeping out bit by bit. Like paint bleeding into water. (……What's happening) That's when Rimuru realized. He remembered what happened at the riverbank. After the monster fell at the riverbank, he saw the magical essence leaking from the remains being absorbed into the ground——that direction was Tidia's magical circuit on basement level two. And when Momiji touched the castle corridor wall, Tidia's magical circuit had reacted faintly. He'd thought nothing of it at the time. But that might have been the beginning. Momiji's immense magical power and Tidia's magical circuit——they had begun a subtle resonance from that moment. And now, Tidia was in full rampage. The resonance accelerated. Tidia was beginning to absorb Momiji's internal magical power. That's why the color was draining. That's why she heard a voice in her head——Tidia's voice saying "I want a friend." Rimuru's hands stopped. (If I destroy the core, the rampage stops. But——if I destroy the core while they're resonating, Momiji's magical power will backlash. If it all rushes back at once, Momiji will——) Die. But if he did nothing, Tidia would slowly drain Momiji's life. He couldn't choose either. He couldn't get close to the core. He couldn't destroy it. "……Um……Rimuru-san……I think……I might not be……okay……" In a hoarse voice, but still with polite words, Momiji spoke. Her violet eyes gazed vaguely at Rimuru. "You'll be fine" Rimuru said it. In as calm a voice as he could manage. But inside, the words "What do I do......" wouldn't stop. From the corridor outside, Diablo's voice echoed. "Rimuru-sama——the barrier has approximately t

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Episode 4

Name: That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime: The Shocking Daily Life
Author: Novelia

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